Ukrainians have raised a record sum of 297.5 million hryvnias (approximately $7.7 million) in just two days to procure Sea Baby drone boats.
This fundraising effort, conducted in collaboration with the platform “UNITED24,” monobank, and volunteers Sergiy Sternenko and Ihor Lachenkov, aims to supply the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) with 35 unmanned aerial vehicles used for strikes against Russian military vessels in the Black Sea.
During the “Ukraine. the Year 2024” forum on Sunday, February 25, Lieutenant General Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the SBU, announced that Sea Baby drones had already been deployed to attack 11 Russian military ships. Maliuk highlighted the significance of these drones, describing them as a multifunctional platform utilized not only for kamikaze operations but also for remote mining and other strategic operations.
Discussing maritime operations, Maliuk revealed that SBU specialists have developed several notable innovations, including two surface drones. “One of them, Sea Baby, is our flagship. It has demonstrated its effectiveness by neutralizing 11 enemy vessels, some irreparably damaged and others undergoing repairs in Russian docks, which may take years before returning to service,” explained the head of the SBU.
Maliuk further disclosed that these drones were instrumental in successfully targeting the Crimean Bridge on July 28 of the previous year, disrupting both railway and road connections. “The Crimean Bridge has not been fully restored and is not utilized for hostile logistics (movement of weapons, means of attack, etc.). Instead, they resort to ferry crossings for these purposes,” Maliuk elaborated.
He recounted the first strike on the bridge on October 8, 2022, “the day after the 70th anniversary of Putin’s bunker grandfather, when he woke up with a headache.” “The strike involved 21 tons of TNT equivalent. At that time, we conducted the operation from the mainland. Personally, I and my two comrades were involved,” added the head of the SBU.
